(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hybrid connector, in which electric and optical connectors are integrally formed so that a single connecting operation completes the connection between the electric and optical connectors.
(2) Description of the Related Art
With regard to various vehicles including motorcars, a very many signals from various sensors and those for controlling various electronic equipment have to be handled. When these signals are transmitted by using individual signal lines, the number of the signal lines becomes enormous, causing a wiring harness to be very heavy. In addition, in recent years, information transmitted from various electronic equipment has been enhanced and made much denser, causing a wiring harness to be furthermore heavy. Therefore, recently, a part of a wiring harness has been replaced by an optical fiber cable (optical fiber cord) and for example, a system in which an optical fiber cable connects nodes with each other has been employed.
When a part of a wiring harness is to be replaced by an optical fiber cable, for example for a motorcar manufacturer, an operation for connecting the electric and optical connectors becomes complicated and troublesome. Consequently, recently, a hybrid connector, in which electric and optical connectors are integrally formed so that a single connecting operation completes the connection between the electric and optical connectors, has been developed for its practical use.
However, since the hybrid connector is formed in such a way that the electric and optical connectors are integrally constituted therein, the hybrid connector is forced to have many components. Especially, when the number of components with respect to the optical connector increases, a clearance, which arises upon the assembly of the components with each other, becomes a main cause of the optical loss and may have an adverse effect on the communication. For example, when a relatively large clearance arises between an optical element module and a sleeve, which constitute the optical connector, the optical loss at the clearance portion becomes large.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to solve the problem described above and to provide a hybrid connector, by which the optical loss can be reduced.
In order to attain the above objective, the present invention is to provide a male hybrid connector comprising electric and optical connectors formed integrally with each other, wherein the optical connector includes: at least one optical element module having an optical element; sleeves, each of which has an optical waveguide, provided in accordance with the number of the optical element modules; a housing shared with the electric connector; and a case for holding the optical element modules, the housing is provided integrally with receiving cylinders for holding the sleeves, an end of the receiving cylinder, into which the corresponding sleeve is inserted, is provided with an engaging part, with which the case engages, and the case has a spring property so that each optical element module received in the case can be pressed against the corresponding receiving cylinder and/or the corresponding sleeve when the case engages with the engaging parts.
According to the constitution described above, the hybrid connector has the housing provided integrally with the receiving cylinder for holding the sleeves. Therefore, the number of the components is decreased and no assembling between the receiving cylinder and the housing is necessary, thereby preventing a troublesome clearance from arising. Upon an assembly, when the case is engaged with the receiving cylinder after the case receives the optical element modules, the optical element modules can be pressed against the receiving cylinder and or the sleeves since the case has a spring property, thereby preventing a troublesome clearance from arising.
Preferably, the case is made of an electrically conductive metal sheet.
According to the constitution described above, the case is free from a troublesome clearance and has an electromagnetically shield effect.